'Wrong to link Geronimo with terror mastermind'

WASHINGTON - The top staffer for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is objecting to the US military's use of the code name "Geronimo" for Osama bin Laden during the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader.

Geronimo was an Apache leader in the 19th century who spent many years fighting the Mexican and US armies until his surrender in 1886.

Loretta Tuell, staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said on Tuesday it was inappropriate to link Geronimo, whom she called "one of the greatest Native American heroes", with one of the most hated enemies of the United States.